David Harple, News-Times photographer, dead at 48

By Robert Miller, Staff Writer

Published 12:02 am, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

DANBURY -- David W. Harple, who for 27 years framed the daily drama of this city's life -- its fires, its elections, its baseball games, its welding shops and picnics -- as an award-winning photographer for The News-Times, died Saturday after a six-year struggle with cancer.

Harple, 48, was a photojournalist with a great range of interests -- gardening, martial arts, whitewater paddling, home repair, computer and camera technology and, at the end of his life, the black-humor world of modern medical bureaucracy.

His inexhaustible curiosity showed up in his work. He was equally skilled at capturing the frozen-over look of the city after a blizzard or the hoopla of a presidential visit. He photographed perp walks, open-heart surgery and wild songbirds on a cold New Year's morning.

Harple excelled at straightforward news photography -- capturing the big moment as it happened. He was also an imaginative studio photographer who knew how to create an image to illustrate a feature story when an ordinary shot wouldn't do.

"I've worked with many photographers over the years,'' said News-Times publisher David Dear. "Dave came across as someone who was very passionate about his craft, as someone who loved what he did.

"He was a terrific ambassador for the newspaper in the community," Dear said. "For many people, he was the face of The News-Times.''

"He was dedicated to photography, to newspapers,'' said News-Times editor Art Cummings. "He loved The News-Times. He lived The News-Times.''

"All I can say is that it will be lonelier on the campaign trail without Dave Harple somewhere on the scene,'' said Mayor Mark Boughton. "He was a terrific person.''

Dear said Harple's courage in facing his disease -- metastatic kidney cancer -- won him recognition as the 2008 News-Times Employee of the Year.

Cummings said Harple's attitude and performance in the face of his illness served as a source of inspiration for his colleagues, and "that may be what they remember him for the most.''

That, and his indefatigable conversation. Harple seldom passed up a chance to share whatever had caught his attention that day. It was never idle chatter. It was an endless stream of information.

"He exhausted me,'' said his wife, Beth.

"He was like a radio,'' said Wendy Carlson, who, with Harple and Carol Kaliff formed a trio of friendship and talent that graced The News-Times with photographs for two decades.

"It was like his barometer," Carlson related. "When Dave was talking, he was OK.''

"Photographers can sometimes stay on the sidelines,'' Carlson said. "When Dave had an assignment, he couldn't. He approached it with all of his inquisitiveness. He wanted to share everything he did.''

At the same time, Harple had an extremely thorough, analytical mind. He was the photographer who learned how to use new equipment, then taught others on the staff. He was the one who could think of an image, then carefully figure out how to take it.

"Look at these pictures,'' Kaliff said, going over a portfolio of Harple's photographs. "He took these before everything went digital. He did them all inside his camera.''

He also had a wild sense of humor: His one-sided, gnarly conversations with unresponsive computers could keep passersby transfixed, waiting around for the fierce, keyboard-pounding denouement. He was also generous with his time -- especially if something needed to be fixed.

Mark Langlois, a former reporter for The News-Times, said that in 2008 he asked Harple -- who was growing increasingly ill -- for help with a plumbing job. Without hesitation, Harple drove to Langlois' house, tools in hand, and soon had the jumble of pipes and connections in order, ready to be installed.

"That's how he went to the end -- full tilt,'' Beth Harple said.

Lynn Schnier, a former News-Times copy editor who now works at the Connecticut Post, said that on two occasions she accidentally locked her desk with her purse and keys inside. Late at night, Harple climbed under the desk and figured out how to spring the lock.

"Both times, he got down on the floor and helped me," she said.

He was a totally dedicated father to his two children, Nathaniel "Nate," 19, and Kathryn, 17. And, almost as much as he loved his family, he loved the outdoors -- the wilder the better.

Peter Hvizdak, a photographer for the New Haven Register, formed part of a core of dedicated whitewater paddlers -- wilderness brothers -- with Harple, going on annual trips deep into Maine and the Adirondacks.

In 2008, they paddled St. John's River in Maine, near the Canadian border. The trip -- Harple's last -- left him hungry for more.

"It was a passion, then a love,'' Hvizdak said of Harple's appreciation of the deep woods and untamed rivers. On these trips, Hvizdak said, Harple reveled in the hard work of paddling and his skills as woodsman.

"He was a giver, not a taker," Hvizdak said.

His fellow photographer, Wendy Carlson, said that wilderness is the Valhalla that Harple deserves for a life well-lived.

"I hope he goes to a big river, with a good current,'' Carlson said.

Calling hours will be Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Cornell Memorial Funeral Home, 247 White St., Danbury. The funeral service will be Friday at 1 p.m. at the funeral home.